BBC News is reporting that Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis’ gravestone was stolen yesterday morning in Macclesfield. A police spokesman said that there were no suspects, but they are confident they will find the stone.

 "There is no CCTV in the area and there are no apparent leads as to who is responsible for the theft,” he said. "This is a very unusual theft and I am confident that someone locally will have knowledge about who is responsible or where the memorial stone is at present."

The gravestone is engraved with “Ian Curtis 18-5-80” (the date Curtis hung himself) and “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

A few years ago this crime would have seemed way out of place, but with Joy Division’s rising stock thanks to the films Control and Joy Division, and their own Zune, the band’s cultural cache has never been higher.

[BBC]